Star Wars fans eager to visit Galaxy’s Edge during the initial “soft opening” period of the new themed land came out in force Thursday and snapped up all the free reservations available to visitors not staying at one of the Disneyland resort hotels.

All of the free reservations available on the Disneyland website for visitors who had not booked a room at the Disneyland Hotel, Disney’s Grand Californian or Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel “sold out” in less than two hours after they became available at 10 a.m., according to Disneyland.

UPDATE: General reservations are no longer available. Reservations are still available with a Disneyland Resort Hotel stay.

“They did 24 days of reservations and it’s unlikely it’s less than 10,000 people per day, so that’s 240,000 right there as an absolute minimum. It’s probably around 300,000,” said Len Testa, president of Touring Plans, an online subscription service that lets users create custom theme park itineraries.

Nerves were on edge just before the Galaxy’s Edge reservation system went online at 10 a.m. Thursday.

“OMG The internet went out so I lost my place for Galaxy’s Edge reservations,” tweeted @sarailoveschips just before the reservation window opened at 10 a.m. Thursday.

Fortunately, the #GalaxysEdge fan was able to secure reservations 15 minutes later for her brother and herself.

Fans celebrated on social media after landing reservations to the highly anticipated new 14-acre land set to debut at the Anaheim theme park on May 31.

“Guess who has reservations for #GalaxysEdge on opening day?? ME!,” tweeted @joshienko, a college lecturer from Eastvale.

The Galaxy’s Edge reservation site was flooded with fans during the first hour leading to long delays to book a date and time. The opening weekend dates went first. By 11 a.m., latecomers found “no times available” for the first 10 days of the reservation-only period. All the reservations spots were booked before noon.

Some fans complained online that a computer glitch prevented them from adding friends and family to their reservation, a requirement for admission to the land.

One industrious scalper posted a Galaxy’s Edge opening day reservation on EBay for $1,500. But any buyer will be sorely disappointed. Disney officials said they have put strict rules in place to make the process fair to all visitors and discourage third-party resales.

Disneyland will restrict visitors with Galaxy’s Edge reservations to a 4-hour time limit during the soft opening. No stand-by visitors will be permitted to enter Galaxy’s Edge during the reservation-only period.

Up to six people could have been added to a single Galaxy’s Edge reservation. Each visitor will need a Disneyland ticket and Galaxy’s Edge reservation to get into the new Star Wars land. Adult visitors 18 and older will need to bring a government-issued photo ID.

Only people with proper ID who are listed on the Galaxy’s Edge reservation will be admitted to the land. Reservations can’t be changed, modified, transferred or sold.

Hotel guests will receive only one Galaxy’s Edge reservation for their group’s entire stay. Rooms that include a Galaxy’s Edge reservation are still available at the three Disneyland hotels during the soft opening period.

Disneyland will allow overnight lineups before the May 31 grand opening and the June 24 post-reservation date. The overnight lineups will be handled similarly to the queues that were formed for Disneyland’s 50th and 60th anniversary celebrations.

No reservations will be needed to enter Galaxy’s Edge beginning June 24. Disneyland is developing a virtual queueing system for Galaxy’s Edge that will allow visitors to wander around Disneyland while waiting to enter the new Star Wars land.

The digital system will issue a “boarding pass” that will provide visitors access to Galaxy’s Edge. Boarding pass groups will be permitted to enter Galaxy’s Edge as the land empties rather than at specified times.

Disneyland is intentionally limiting Galaxy’s Edge attendance during the opening weeks to deliver an “exceptional guest experience” while the park assesses the operating capacity of the new themed land, Disney officials said.

“We are delighted that our guests are as excited as we are about the May 31st opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge,” said Disneyland spokesperson Liz Jaeger. “We can’t wait for them to visit — and we look forward to delivering a great guest experience both now and after June 23rd, when reservations will no longer be required to visit Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.”

Galaxy’s Edge will be set in the Black Spire Outpost village on the remote planet of Batuu, located on the outer rim of the Star Wars galaxy. Disney is building nearly identical versions of the Star Wars themed lands in California and Florida. The new themed land debuts Aug. 29 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios near Orlando.

Brady MacDonald is a theme park reporter for the Orange County Register and the Southern California News Group. He’s covered the theme park industry for more than 25 years. He writes about Disney, Universal, Six Flags, SeaWorld, Cedar Fair and Legoland parks in Southern California, across the United States and around the world. As a member of the SCNG Features team, he also writes about entertainment, travel, pop culture, music, restaurants and craft beer.

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